Category: Game Stuff

A Simple Pause Function in Actionscript 3

Just a quick function that you can use in your library of tricks to simulate pausing in Actionscript 3.

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public static function pause(timeInSeconds:int, functionToCall:Function):void {
    var timer:Timer = new Timer(timeInSeconds * 1000);
    timer.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER, callFunction, false, 0, true);
    timer.start();
    function callFunction(event:TimerEvent):void {
        timer.stop();
        timer.removeEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER, callFunction);
        timer = null;
        functionToCall();              
    }
}

The function takes 2 arguments:

timeInSeconds – how many seconds to wait before calling the function
functionToCall – the function to call after the given time has passed

This is a preview of A Simple Pause Function in Actionscript 3. Read the full post (92 words, estimated 22 secs reading time)

Easily sort an Array of Strings: Longest to Shortest Word

So let’s say you are making some sort of a game or program in Actionscipt 3 that requires you to sort words in order from longest to shortest. for example:

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var word:Array = new Array("this", "is", "a", "list", "of", "randomly","chosen","words", "to", "sort");

if you try something like:

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trace(word.sort());

you will get the following:

a,chosen,is,list,of,randomly,sort,this,to,words

This is a preview of Easily sort an Array of Strings: Longest to Shortest Word. Read the full post (264 words, estimated 1:03 mins reading time)

Flash Actionscript 3: Easily Jumble elements of an Array or String

Sometimes in Actionscript you need an easy way to jumble elements of an array or string, such as for a card/word game. I created this simple little as3 class that you can use for just that:

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// Usage:
// yourNewString = Jumble.string(yourOldString);
// yourNewArray = Jumble.array(yourOldArray);

package com.frigidfish{

    public class Jumble {

        public function Jumble() {}

        public static function string(s:String):String {
            var a:Array = s.split("");
            var r:String = "";
            a = a.sort(randomize);
            for(var i=0;i<a.length;i++){
                r += a[i];
            }          
            return r;
        }

        public static function array(a:Array):Array {
            a = a.sort(randomize);
            return a;
        }

        private static function randomize(objA:Object, objB:Object):int {
            return Math.round(Math.random()*2)-1;
        }
    }
}

Usage:

This is a preview of Flash Actionscript 3: Easily Jumble elements of an Array or String. Read the full post (67 words, estimated 16 secs reading time)

How to create an AS3 game grid

One of the things that you have to do a lot when developing grid based games in Actionscript 3 is obviously lay out the grid. This is confusing to a lot of people but in flash, it is really quite simple. I created a simple class just for this blog to demonstrate how this can be achieved.

This is a preview of How to create an AS3 game grid. Read the full post (601 words, estimated 2:24 mins reading time)